Michael Bay. Probably one of the most notable and divisive auteurs of our time. Just saying his name immediately brings up thoughts of explosions, oversaturated colors, and a lot of women with jingoistic imagery everywhere. Even so, there has been a re-evaluation of the man and his work as of late and a renewed appreciation for his brand of filmmaking. Sure, it’s insane and testosterone-fueled escapism, but it’s so well-crafted and distinctive that in the age of blander blockbusters, he is far more appealing as a filmmaker compared to some of our contemporaries. However, I feel that a decade or so of Transformers has partially robbed us of potentially more interesting movies from him. I say this because there is one film he made in between those that might be his best and most defining work. It is 2013’s Pain and Gain, and it might honestly be the most reflective modern American film of the past decade or so.
The film is a loose retelling of real events in 1994 and 95 involving the Sun Gym gang, who were a group of bodybuilders who kidnapped a rich man and got him to sign over all his wealth and assets to them. The film changes names and certain events, both to protect individuals and also to play up drama and chaos. The film follows Danny Lupo, played by Mark Wahlberg, who is a trainer at Sun Gym. He aspires to the ideals of the American Dream to a high degree and believes that he is owed far more than what he has. He recruits two other members of the Gym, Adrian Doorbal, played by Anthony Mackie, and Paul Doyle, played by Dwayne Johnson, to kidnap rich businessman Victor Kershaw and get his money to get them to a better place in life.
What is amazing about this film is that it very much embodies the troubled modern-day American. It’s no secret that many are dissatisfied with the current reality of what the mythology of our country tells us. The pursuit of happiness is something many believe isn’t in their grasp and that they are stuck in a constant cycle of mediocrity. As such, this film very much focuses on this frustration and shows an extreme example of dissatisfaction and the drive to get power and wealth. It also ties into uber-masculinity and how blunt and unintelligent some of the most discontented people can be when they are so fixated on moving up in the world. Many also believe that because of the way the country frames itself, they are entitled to all the spoils of the nation, even if they aren’t committed to doing any of the work. Danny is unhappy, but mostly though his perception of what he believes being American truly is, and not because of his status in life. He’s got a decent and balanced life, but convinces himself he wants more and that he deserves it more than people like Kershaw. Adrian and Paul are in worse places, mostly by their own hands, but are convinced by Danny that their scheme is the only way to improve themselves, rather than through actual self-improvement. They want to get to another place in life, but only want to do that by violent and aggressive means rather than asking themselves why they are in the places they are at.
Performances across the board are phenomenal. Wahlberg has spent so much time being a relatively uninteresting performer as of late that I was shocked to remind myself that he’s extremely compelling when he puts his mind to it. Mackie as well, in the sense that he’s been stuck with Marvel and can be more multi-faceted with his roles. The biggest takeaway, though, is The Rock. Like Wahlberg, he’s been taking mostly safe and bland choices recently, so it’s all the better to see him be genuinely great in this movie. A combination of insanity and unhinged charm, both in his stature and demeanor. It’s a reminder that he can be a great actor when he sets his mind to it. Tony Shalhoub is memorable as Kershaw, where, despite not being accurate at all to the relatively normal man the character is based on, he succeeds in being both unlikable and also far more sympathetic than our leads. Ed Harris rounds out the cast by being probably the most normal individual, both performance-wise and character-wise, which is a good element to help balance things out and have a more level-headed element in play. All of the performances do a great job taking characters that could be seen either as dumb or simple and elevating them to something far more compelling while still being pretty dumb. It helps that the script is very strong and dives deep into the mentality and emotions of the characters, so there’s a lot being portrayed at once.
It’s also an extreme movie. While a lot of this film is accurate to what happened, it is also clear that a good portion was played up for comedy and shock. Paul is a born-again religious man with a drug addiction, and Adrian is infertile and goes after big women. Paul isn’t even a real person and is just an amalgamation of a handful of people who were involved. There’s a scene where Danny sets up a Neighborhood Watch, and all the suburban men visibly say they want to be involved in the demonstration with his hot girlfriend while their wives are sitting next to them. Bay’s trademark sense of bluntness and aggression comes full force both in the framing and execution of many scenes. From how sequences can go from 1 to 100 in terms of destruction and violence, to how simultaneously striking and stupid-looking the leads are presented, Bay goes out of his way to portray the story with as much freneticism and chaos as possible. While it may seem a bit insensitive to the real-life subjects in terms of presenting a story, it does a good job giving more character to the film and a sense of grim uncomfortability that’s completely intentional. Bay hates the trio and wants to make sure the audience gets that across constantly.
In an age where a lot of people get attention and fame through aggressive bluntness, stupidity, and cruelty towards others, showing that these characters aren’t smart at all is notably ahead of the curve. Every action and impulsive choice that leads to their downfall is self-created. When they go to kill Kershaw, they fail numerous times in unbelievably dumb ways. When they finally do get him, they still keep failing and don’t even check to see if they finished the job. They get back in trouble when Paul tries to rob an armored truck after he squanders his money on drugs, and their efforts to steal money from another rich guy also go horribly wrong. As I said before, Bay portrays the main characters in this film as probably some of the most unlikeable protagonists this kind of film could offer. They have little, if any, positive traits, and they always make the wrong choices. It’s this kind of framing that makes it more compelling since it feels true to life. So many people try to either act aggressively or bully others and frame it as justified or a valiant pursuit to get forward in life, even in areas that don’t need it, like workplaces or politics. This movie shows the extreme result of someone buying into this mentality, where it is self-destructive and there’s no sense of self-reflection or personal blame about the results.
Ultimately, I believe this is an outstanding film. It’s absolutely bonkers and not for everyone, but its insanity and abrasiveness won me over. It’s why I’m kind of upset Bay spent so much time with the robot movies, since those are kind of uninteresting and formulaic, while this film shows that he can basically take film templates that great directors like Scorsese or the Coen Brothers do and pump them full of his own tendencies and bring a new angle. I won’t argue that it’s high art, but it’s a movie that’s very raw in its portrayal of a certain mindset and approach some have regarding the American Dream and how to make it in this country. It’s basically a more aggressive and in-your-face version of The Wolf of Wall Street, and that was already a bonkers film, so that tells you how nuts this is. At the end of the day, film culture is being more observational about even more brazen and wild films of the past, since there is a lot of merit even in those. Films that were considered trashy in the past have a lot of appeal now, either through their filmmaking or elements that speak to audiences more now than before. We need more directors to take oddball swings and give audiences different experiences, not just in an artistic way, but a more blunt and visceral way, too. I know it’s weird to apply this to Bay, given his reputation, but I think it speaks to something about his work that even at its most crass and commercial, many still feel he has something valuable and interesting to provide in a way.
